CFOs lag in AI readiness as ROI pressures rise: EY

Dive Brief:

Just 21% of CFOs rate their artificial intelligence preparedness as “leading” or “advanced,” EY found in a recent study.
Finance teams with stronger AI preparedness are significantly more likely to recognize the technology’s potential value across core business functions, according to a report on the findings released earlier this month. Among CFOs who say they are fully prepared for AI adoption, 71% believe the technology has strong potential in growth forecasting — using AI to predict demand and explore new growth paths.
“This underscores that building AI competency and experimentation are prerequisites to recognizing its full potential, with advanced teams showing a broader and more consistent view of AI’s value across use cases,” the report said.

Dive Insight:

The findings come as CFOs face growing pressure to justify AI and other technology investments, while teams are still building the data foundations, skills and governance needed to support them.

Seventy-one percent of CFOs say traditional metrics are not sufficient to evaluate initiatives that combine people and technology, highlighting a growing mismatch between how organizations create value and how it is measured, according to the EY report.

The biggest challenge is that ROI from emerging technologies is often difficult to define or prove upfront, while a second key issue is that standard financial frameworks struggle to capture future, indirect or intangible benefits such as improved decision-making, forecasting accuracy and operational agility.

Qualitative measures tied to business outcomes could help finance leaders better assess and articulate the value of AI and other technology investments, EY said. This includes assessing how AI can improve pricing decisions, strengthen supply chain performance, or free up finance teams to focus on higher-value activities.

However, many CFOs say they are not yet…

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